Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dislocation can occur during daily activities and negatively affect a patientʼs quality of life. Although both nonsurgical and surgical techniques have been used to treat recurrent TMJ dislocation, the former is not always successful and the latter, although having a high success rate, is invasive and requires hospitalization. Recently, autologous blood injection has been used to treat recurrent TMJ dislocation. However, this technique is not yet widely used in clinical practice. We designed this study to obtain further information as to efficacy, safety and stability of autologous blood injection for recurrent TMJ dislocation.

In this article, we report the successful surgical treatment of a patient, 34 years of age, who had a severe gummy smile and a class II malocclusion. The patient had an 11-mm gingival exposure during full smile and a convex profile. A LeFort I osteotomy combined with a horseshoe osteotomy was used for the superior repositioning of the maxilla;then, an intraoral vertical ramus osteotomy (IVRO) and genioplasty were performed for mandibular advancement. The maxilla was acceptably impacted 8mm at the first incisor and 5mm at the first molar. Both the occlusion and facial appearance were significantly improved by this surgical-orthodontic treatment. Our results suggest that the combination of a horseshoe osteotomy with a LeFort I osteotomy is a useful technique for reliable superior repositioning of the maxilla.